Excerpts
were originally published in the monthly newsletter of the
Wisconsin Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club,
1977, under the title; "Powered by Studebaker" - Article
update: January 29, 2007

This was the late
30's and midget racing was at it's peak. Tracks were
featuring midgets from coast
to coast and the Mid-west was the hot bed of the sport. I
started where most people started in those days, stooging
for an established driver. "Stooging" was being a part of
the pit crew. Hanging out and doing whatever needed to be
done to get the car on the track. My mentor was the great
Wally Zale, one of the winningness midget racers of all
time. I stooged for Wally Zale for three years (1939, 40 and
41). After pestering Wally long enough, I was about to get
my first ride when he was tragically killed in a auto-train
collision on May 5, 1942, in Chicago. Later that year, on
November 30, I was drafted into the Army.

Wally Zale, "The
Chicago Cyclone" and his green #9 midget were frequent
visitors to "Victory Lane", once winning an amazing 14 of 16
feature starts, nine in a row. He won 46 features during the
1936 season and four years later won 69 main
events.

After
being discharged from the Army Air Corps in March of 1945, I
took my mustering out pay of $300.00 and bought my first
midget, "The Beeler Bar Special." It was painted green
(considered unlucky in auto racing), with the number 9 and a
four cylinder Chevy engine.
It was late in 1946 season, my first year driving. I was at
the Manitowoc County Fair, and this day was turning out no
different than many. The car was constantly developing some
sort of trouble all season long. Rods kept going out, rear
ends braking, wheels fell off, or some other sort of
problem.

On one particular
day it was not running at all when a fellow came up to me
and said, You need help! I replied, Boy, I
sure do. After he worked on my car for about a half
hour, I went out and won my first heat race.

The fellow turned
out to be George Welch, who from that time on was to be my
mechanic and me, his driver. We made a deal for me to drive
his car, an old 4 cylinder Plymouth, number 17. It turned
out to be a little better than my number 9, but not by much.
I drove the car the next day and placed fourth in the
feature race.

The
next race was to be at the famous Milwaukee Mile, the last
race of the season. I started last in the Wisconsin
Class B race. When the starter dropped the green flag,
I was in first place. The race was stopped and I got chewed
out for jumping the gun. On the second start, I took the
inside track and did the same thing. The race was halted
again, and again I got chewed out from Bill Vandewater, one
of the very best starters in the country. The third start
went off smooth and I stayed in my place. I worked myself up
to fourth place, and then hit the outside fence, which I
rode half way around the north turn before getting hung up
on a light pole. There I remained for the rest of the night.
George was the happiest guy at the track that night, just
seeing his car go. He told me that if I drove for him the
following year, hed build a new car for me. I
agreed.

George got a rail
frame and an old Model T front end, a rear end from an old
race driver by the name of Ted Rosston (South Milwaukee),
and a body, then started to put everything together. He
picked up a 1941 Studebaker Champion engine and worked on
porting and relieving it for two weeks every night. Then he
put in Pontiac exhaust valves and Dodge valve springs. He
sleeved it down and put in 1939 Studebaker rods, which were
shorter than those used in 1941. He used Jahns pistons and a
Plymouth carburetor. Everything else was stock Studebaker.

We painted the car
maroon and cream with the number 17. The colors and number
design was borrowed
from the Johnny Pawl midget (right) driven by Ted Duncan
which was featured in the 1947 "Abbott and Costello" movie,
"Buck Privates Come Home." The two-tone paint scheme was
George Welch's design.

We decided that for
the first three races we would take it easy and feel out the
new car. Here are the results. First race: Seventh fastest
time, second in the heat race and fourth in the feature.
Second race: fourth fastest time, first in the heat race,
leading the feature when the fuel pump gave out (we changed
to an electric fuel pump after that). Third race: fourth
fastest time, eleventh in the heat race and third in the
feature.

By the fourth race
we were ready to go and see what we could do. No holding
back! That was at Darlington, Wisconsin on a half-mile
track. I had fourth fastest time in qualifying and first in
my heat. In the feature race John Dietz and I engaged in a
spectacular
duel
for first place, when on the seventh lap we tangled and went
through the fence. Billy Johnson went on to win.

We went on to win
the 1947 Badger Midget Auto Racing Associations
Championship.

Over the
next two seasons we complied the following
record:

1947
& 1948

First

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Features

20

14

12

14

4

Semi-Features

13

15

17

---

---

Heat
Races

20

24

16

---

---

In 1948, with a new
Kurtis Kraft body, we raced in five special Musketeer
Races. These races were held over five consecutive
weeks at various tracks, between the top four drivers. The
drivers consisted of: Chet Morris, Kelly Peters, Billy
Johnson and me. I won all five races.

During the 1948
season, on June 21st (my birthday), I was burned over 40% of
my body, when a water hose broke during a race at Sun
Prairie. During the weekend of July 2 - 4, against the
orders of my doctor, I was back in my race car. My crew had
to remove the steering wheel from the car and lift me in,
because I couldn't bend my legs enough to get in under my
own power. Between races I would remain in the car, as the
pain was too great to get in and out. We won 2 of the 3
Feature races.

I had a practice of
staying in second until the last lap and then pass for the
lead, but this time I guessed wrong and missed the win by
two feet. George asked my what was wrong and I told him that
the car just lost power. George tore the car apart trying to
figure out what went wrong, but found nothing. I finally
admitted that it was my misjudgment that cost us the race.
George laughed and that became a running
joke.

Later that year,
Chet Morris was driving a Kurtis-Kraft midget with a
Granatelli engine. George offered to help him. He took an
old engine that Chet had lying around and put it together
for him. Chet and I went out and finished first and second
in the next three races. The engine was better than the one
that Chet had paid Granatelli $1,200.00 for (remember
what $1,200.00 was worth in 1948).

One of my most
notable memories of the Welch Stude was a 50-lap
race at the famous Milwaukee Mile in 1947. This was one of
the premier races of the year, which drew the top
drivers and cars from throughout the country. Names such as
Tony Bettenhausen, Mike OHalloran, Rex Easton, Paul
Russo, Myron Fohr, and Frank Berany to name a few. These
were top drivers of the day, driving the best equipment, all
powered by Offenhauser engines, designed specifically for
racing. I was driving the Studebaker powered midget of
George Welch. I surprised everyone when I qualified for the
feature event. I started from the thirteenth position and
held the spot of the entire race. With the only stock
engine in the field, we more than held our
own.

George Welch could
have been the best racing mechanic in the racing business if
he had really wanted to. He was a kind and gentle man. He
was thoughtful and patient to everyone that he met. He was
one of the greatest guys that it was my pleasure to know. I
miss him, and his subtle sense of humor very
much.

Even after we
parted ways after the 1948 season, he built me a new engine
for my car. He put on three Riley carburetors and tuned it
to run on pure alcohol, which was a first at the time. The
car ran the entire season without any mechanical problems.
We won races too! After parting ways, George ran one more
season, before selling his car at the end of the 1949
season.

In 1949, I bought
my own car, a green #9 and drove it for two years. In 1950,
Pete Pavasil bought the "17" for his brother Al to drive. Al
flipped it on the first lap of qualifying of his first race.
The car landed on Pavasil, breaking his back. I drove the
car for the remainder of the season without much
success.

I also tried my
hand behind the wheel of "Stock cars" during the 1949
season. Stock car racing was
relatively new and not nearly as popular as midget racing. I
drove a 1938 Ford in 12 races throughout Wisconsin, winning
11 of them. My lone loss was in a race where I rolled the
#6.

Then
in 1951 Jim Maloney and Don McGaw bought the car. I drove it
for them until 1954. In 1955, Boyd Konick, and I bought our
own car, a #7. In the meantime, McGaw got Ron Erfurth to
drive the "17". Once again, the curse of the "17" struck. In
a heat race, Erfurth flipped and went over the fence. The
car sat idle until August 1, 1955 when I bought it.

In 1956 we felt the
"17" needed an update, so we bought a Kurtis Kraft chassis
from Johnny Paul. It had a broken front axle, no steering
and no rear end. We reinstalled the Studebaker Champion
engine, steering gear and gear box from the original "17."
We installed a "quick change" rear end. By this time we were
running a magneto and fuel injection. I drove that car until
1961, when I retired from racing. I sold the car to Pancho
Pinilla, of Chicago, Illinois for $2,250.00 and bought land
on Green Bay on which to build a cottage....but, that's
another story. Pancho removed the Studebaker and
installed a Ford. The car exchanged hands for a number of
years before being stripped for parts and moth balled in
someones garage.

I hope you
enjoyed my story. It was a great career with many beautiful
memories.

***
Read
the rest of the story on our
"#17
Midget Today"
page. ***
Find out what happend
toLandy's
midget and where it is today.